| Details | | Publication Date: | 1998-11-01 |
| Size | | Length: | 215 pages | | Height: | 9.5 in | | Width: | 6.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 17.6 oz |
Publisher's Note
This is a pioneer work on karayuki-san, impoverished Japanese women sent abroad to work as prostitutes from the 1860s to the 1930s. Sandakan Brothel No.8 presents the life story of a former karayuki-san, Osaki, as related to the author. Persuaded as a child often to accept cleaning work in Sandakan, North Borneo, Osaki is soon forced into prostitution. Thousands of other young Japanese women shared a similar fate in the brothels that were established throughout Asia in conjunction with the expansion of Japanese business interests. In spite of her anger and revulsion, Osaki sends all her earnings home to improve the lot of her older brother, only to be rejected by him and his family upon her return to Japan. She is later rejected by her son, as well, who does not want his mother's social stigma to interfere with his prospects for marriage and work. Yamazaki views Osaki as the embodiment of the suffering experienced by all Japanese women, who have long been oppressed under the dual yoke of class and gender. This sad tale could not be more relevant for present times. It provides the historical and anthropological context for understanding the sexual exploitation of Asian women before and during the Pacific War and for the growing flesh trade in Southeast Asia and Japan today. Young women are being brought to Japan with the same false promises that enticed Osaki to Borneo eighty years ago.
Industry Reviews
Yamazaki records the life story of Osaki, a karayuki-san, the term for rural Japanese women sold into overseas prostitution between the 1860s and 1930s. Sent to Sandakan, North Borneo at age ten, she shared a fate with thousands of other young women in the name of Japanese colonial expansion. Like many of them, Osaki sent all her earnings home. But upon her return, her older brother, whom she assumed was benefitting from her sacrifice, rejected her, as did the remainder of her family, including, later, her own son the stigma of prostitution was overwhelming. Translator Colligan-Taylor (Japanese studies/women's studies, Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks) introduces Yamazaki's work in its sociohistoric context, relating the sexual exploitation of Asian women to the growing flesh trade in Southeast Asia and Japan today. Yamazaki's oral history was critically acclaimed when published in Japan in the early 1970s and is still in print there. A well-written study suitable for history and women's studies curricula. Kay Meredith Dusheck, Anamosa, IA
Fox
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